Ride 72 - It just keeps getting better!

 I love my horse!!!  He just continues to exceed my expectations every time I turn around!  Today was a fantastic ride full of firsts.  The girl keeping her horses next door (we will call her B) had agreed to ride today after I got off work, so I tacked up and rode over there.  There was another girl there and we all three sat around talking for forty five minutes or so.  Chrome was very excited, giraffe necking over the fence to see the horses and pawing impatiently at first... then he did this!

Yep he took a nap!!  The other girl wanted to ride so B put her on the dark bay mare and she got on her chestnut gelding bareback with only a halter and lead rope because she didn't have a spare saddle or bridle with her!  Girl has guts!  So we trooped off down the road.

 Note the halter and lead rope?

Chrome was back to being very excited and up.  He wanted to constantly sniff the other horses, but I kept him away from them (for the most part).  Nobody got grouchy and no one got bit or kicked.  Yay!  For his first time ever riding on the road with other horses (and second time ever riding with other horses at all) I am so proud of him!  I can forgive his excitement because I was actually pretty excited to have someone to ride with too LOL!

The next thing I know Chrome is striding out, walking way faster than the other two!!!!  He totally left them behind!  We got so far ahead we had to yell to talk (I eventually circled him when we got too far ahead because part of the fun of riding with other people is talking and laughing)!  The chestnut gelding is about the same height as Chrome and is an Appendix, so I was blown away that Chrome out walked him like that!  The dark bay Quarter horse mare was a total slow poke, but her rider stayed on her phone (on the internet, not talking) most of the time so it wasn't a big deal lol.  Now I seriously want to ride with some Tennessee Walkers to see if Chrome can keep up!  They used to smoke us when I was a kid out on the trails.  :D

Another first!  Alpacas!!!  There were about seven to ten of them.

We were riding along and all of a sudden I remembered that there was a field of Alpacas around the next turn.  I asked B if they were still there because it had been a long time since I drove that way and she said yes.  I said, "Oh no!  Chrome has never seen Alpacas!  I'm going to die!"  She said, "My horse has never seen them either so I'm going to die!!"  We were laughing soooo hard!  Chrome stopped and stared, but then he spotted the horse in the pasture next door and totally ignored the Alpacas.  I'm glad he doesn't know they spit, because one was seriously giving us the stink eye LOL!

Crappy cell phone group photo!

The other first is that we rode in the dark for the first time!!!

It's hard to tell, but that's his head and neck in the above picture.  :D  He was not in the least worried about it being dark and luckily we didn't have any traffic.  I'm totally getting some reflective gear and blinking lights in case we get caught out after dark again.

This was the first time we'd taken this loop and it has a huge hill on it.  He was great going up and even trotted once, but I got off to go downhill because I had no idea if he would get too much momentum going and start trotting or trip.  He was great and it gave me a chance to stretch out my painful knee.  The hilarious thing is that even with me on foot we were walking twice as fast as the other two!!

The last bit of this loop shares the same road with the field of bulldozers as our other loop.  We did some trotting out there!  He trotted with two other horses trotting!!!  He was very strong and I could tell he wanted to go, but he stayed at a trot.  :D  He even stood still next to the bay mare while B loped some circles on her gelding.  He watched them, but never moved an inch.  So proud of him!  There were even times during the ride when the bay mare would be behind us and B would ride into the ditch and lope away on her gelding.  Chrome wanted to go, but he kept walking!!!!

He only spooked twice.  Once was on my way to her field at the very beginning of the ride.  I have no idea what it was over (but we were going by the "Junk Lady's" house so there was plenty to spook at), but it was just an in place spook.  The second time was more like a flinch and I don't know what it was either.  He did look at some stuff like signs, trailers and a yard full of crap for a yard sale.

I'll be honest and tell you he was NOT on the buckle for this ride and he was very strong at times, but he was never unmanageable or dangerous and my arms are not sore so it's not like he was pulling on me.  He was just an excited giraffe almost the whole time.  Toward the end of the ride when it was dark he did finally drop his head and slow down to walk behind the other two.  :)

The total ride with us sitting around talking and the ride itself was almost two hours.  Also we went a total of 4.24 miles and he was walking as fast down our driveway when we got home as he did when we left.  He didn't sweat and didn't seem tired or sore at all.  :D  I'm so glad that Chrome is proving my pessimistic, paranoid self wrong hehe.  He's such a great horse!

The burning question has been answered!!! - Ride 67

 I have been wondering how Chrome would react to riding with another unfamiliar horse ever since I first rode him two years ago...

The answer to that question is that HE WAS FREAKING FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I will admit I was a little nervous (terrified) about how he would react because he gets soooo excited when he sees horses out on the road.  When I saw that someone was leasing the acreage across the street from us I immediately went over to talk to her.  I found out that we know a lot of the same people and that she barrel races.  She's a lot younger than I am but we seemed to hit it off really well.  She has three horses.  The dun mare above is an Appendix, she has another tall chestnut Appendix gelding and a brown/dark bay AQHA mare.  She has other horses, but those are the three on the lease land across the street.  I asked her if she would be willing to ride with me and my very green horse and she was all game, so after scheduling difficulties all weekend she was finally able to come over this weekend.  She rode her mare over to my house so that we could test Chrome's reaction at home in the safety of a fenced yard.

When they came walking up the driveway his head shot up in the air and he refused to move an inch.  When I finally convinced him to walk he start jigging.  I scolded him and told him to walk so he did, but he was still straining at the reins, wanting to go faster.  He walked up to her, arching his neck and acting all nutso like when on the road.  She's so used to the rodeo that she didn't bat an eye!  Gotta love an all around, been there done that horse.  After they sniffed noses I had her walk down the driveway while he followed.  He was being pushy so I put the rope halter on over his bridle.  I was going to walk him for a few minutes but hubby told me to quit being a chicken and get on.  I got on and hubby led us, following the mare, for one loop up the driveway.  Then we were on our own!  HE WAS AWESOME!!!!!  He stayed at a walk, he steered, he stopped and as you can see in the above picture he stood still for around ten minutes while we talked.  Trying to paw and leaning over to sniff her were the only signs that he was "up".  He never moved an inch (well with three legs anyway lol).  She gave him evil eyes a couple of times, but mostly just stood there and let him gawk.  :)

Anyway here are the pictures.  Sorry for the dark circle.  I don't have permission to post photos of her.

 

 

She rides everyday and her horses are literally across the street so I'm really hoping that we can become regular riding buddies.  :D  I'm so excited!!!!!!!!  I'm also so proud of Chrome.  He exceeded my expectations and put my fears to rest.  I love this horse!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE.

Ride 63

Dang his toes are long!  My farrier has been sick... :(

I went to a friend's house today (getting reacquainted after living in another town for six years-gotta love moving back to your hometown) to talk art.  She's been painting for fifty years or something like that.  She gave me some tips on my charcoal and we just had a lot of fun talking art.  While I was there she said she would love to meet Chrome because she's only seen him on Facebook and she thinks he's beautiful.  So when my husband got home I decided to ride to her house (only about a mile).  Chrome hasn't been ridden since the end of July (too hot and busy with new job) and last night he was going nuts in the pasture.  He was galloping around and created the mother of all dust storms!  I actually saw him intentionally kick the donkey with one hind leg three times!!!!  I've never seem him kick like that!

So I might have been a tiny bit apprehensive about riding him down the road, hence why I asked hubby to walk with us.  :)  We took Jackal too (did you see him in the above picture?).  Chrome had apparently been in the pond and after I got done brushing him there was brown dirt layering the gravel... sheesh.  He stood rock solid while I tacked him up.  He wasn't too happy about the bit because it's been a while, but he didn't fight it and he quickly got used to it again.

He was great as we set off down the road.  Slightly looky, but walking on a loose rein.  The entire time we were on the paved (familiar) roads he was great.... then we turned down a gravel road where he's never been before.... a gravel road with at least seven horses on it.... seven crazy horses that liked neighing, bucking and galloping.... with pastures right next to the road.... I'll admit I was mildly terrified!!  The awesome thing is he didn't act like he noticed the huge gravel he was walking on at all!  Part of it was probably distraction, but he definitely does not seem foot sore which is awesome because he seemed a bit sore on our last road ride.  He would occasionally step on a really big, pointy piece that would make him gimp a step, but not much.

Sorry these are crappy cell phone pics and I didn't get any as we went by the horses because I had my hands full.  I made it halfway by the first property with two horses that were going nuts with him just doing a huge, floaty walk with his ears in my teeth... then he saw the five insane horses in the next pasture and I finally got off.  He was being very strong, wanting to trot, completely ignoring me, tail flipped over his back... On the ground I had to jerk on the bit (I know... bad momma) a couple of times to get his attention because he wanted to put his shoulder into me as he gawked at the horses.  Next time I'm taking a crop!!!!!  He wasn't horrible, just extremely excited.  On the ground I never felt in danger or anything.

Shortly past the crazy horses we turned into the driveway to my friend's house and then he spotted her two horses lol.  They were calmly grazing, ignoring us (except for one neigh) so he just stood and stared at them.  He didn't dance around like with the others.  I HAVE to get him better socialized!!!!  We had a nice visit for fifteen minutes or so (wasn't looking at the clock or taking pictures, so not sure).  Then we headed back home.  I walked until we got off the gravel road, then mounted up and rode home.  He wanted to veer off into fields, but otherwise he was great and on a loose rein.  He has trail riding nailed if there are no other horses LOL!  I'm a little worried to see what his first ride with other horses is going to be like...

Once back at home I let him lick on the salt block.  I swear his eyes glaze over and he goes off into lala land when licking it.  Will the salt hurt my bit??

He's a good boy.  For a five year old horse who has had a rider on his back only sixty two times since 5-19-12 and hasn't been ridden in a couple of months I think he did fabulous (who doesn't love a horse you can just grab out of the pasture after time off, hop and and go??)!  He's so sane  and laid back (when there aren't other horses around).  :)  Love him!  I'm not even disappointed in myself for having to get off and walk, because I know we will get there.  He walks past the other neighbor horses with me on his back now.  We will just have to work with each new pasture of horses.  If that's his biggest hang up I'm not going to complain.  Also the fact that as soon as we were back on the main road away from the horses he went back to calm on a loose rein makes me happy.  He doesn't stay wound up after the stimulus has moved on.  :D

At home I trotted a couple of circles in our driveway parking spot.  It actually worked out really nicely for a twenty meter circle... sadly there are normally vehicles there.  I need to work on some dressage stuff though because he can barely trot a circle LOL!

Anyway the ride was 55 minutes long including the part where I walked and stood around talking to my friend.  Not that far, but it was fun.  The weather has been nice so I'm hoping I can get back to riding.  It's just hard to schedule rides in around work during the week and that will get worse with winter on the way... oh well, I'll try!

P.S.  I think next time I'll take a crop and ride to those horses, hop off, do ground work until he's calm and focused on me instead of staring at them, then hop back on and ride home.  That's my game plan anyway!  Also yes I did wear a helmet.

Wordless Wednesday - Long Lost Buddies Reunite

A Walk

I have been such a bad blogger!! I guess I shouldn't complain since less time spent at the computer is more time spent outdoors with the animals and getting stuff done, but I still don't like how little I have posted this month. This walk I'm posting about was on April 5th and I'm only now posting about it!!!! Sheesh!

Chrome did fantastic and I actually have to tattle on myself. I was wanting to get some video of him doing his little Arabian tail flipped nose in the air prance thing, so I was actually encouraging him to be silly, but he wouldn't. Darn it. I trained him too well haha! I got some decent pictures though that I will share with you.

Oh yeah, I broke another one of my rules. I wasn't going to let him meet other horses while out walking because I don't want him to cause issues when we're out trail riding, but when I saw this cutie I had to go over and see him. In the picture above Chrome is doing his submissive champing. In the one below they are sniffing each other.

The next one is the only one I got of him acting a bit squirrel-y.

This next picture is my absolute favorite! I took off running to try to get him to do his silly trot and instead he stretched out into this beautiful ground eating trot. I actually took this picture while running so it's a bit blurry, but I still love it. None of his hooves are touching the ground.

This next picture is us walking back toward the house. He was completely relaxed again even with the crazy Jack Russel Terrier neighbor dog barking at us. I think he was more interested in looking for Two Socks.

"Hey Mom, let's go down the dirt road and find Two Socks!"

When we got back to the house I just kept going past it and started down the dead end road that runs beside my property. In the picture below Chrome is checking out the road. He does this every time we walk down the hill. :)

This horse belongs to the same owner of Two Socks, but lives on their actual property down the road instead of on the rental property behind our house.

Had to turn the flash on because it was getting dark. I love how his fur is wrinkled around his withers. I don't know why it does that but it's cute.

"Hey mom, are you sure we can't go back to visit the horse again?"

"Are you sure? He's just right back there."

Then he give up and continues on his way. :)

Sorry it took so long to get this posted. I got some other pictures of the walk and some videos that I will try to edit and post soon, but no promises. I have 245 blogs in my Google Reader that I haven't read! Yikes! Anyway thanks for joining us on our walk.

Quiet

It's been quiet around here. I've been so busy I haven't had the chance to really mess with Chrome at all. I think he misses our time together. I haven't groomed him in days lol. The weather has turned bad. I don't know how long it will last, but I'm hoping not too long. I was dragging all day, barely able to wake up, because of the dreary weather.

Oh I do have good news!! My neighbor's horse Two Socks is back!! I was on the back deck cleaning out chick feeders or something and I heard Chrome neighing and neighing and neighing. He was standing at the fence staring off into the neighbor's pasture. Then I heard an answering neigh and the sound of thundering hooves. Two Socks came flying around the pond. He was going fast for a twenty plus year old horse lol.

Since they seemed to really want to see each other I went out and opened the gate to the adjoining paddock and let Chrome and Zep graze by the fence with their buddy. They were so excited to see each other. :) I heard another horse frantically neighing so my guess is she probably had moved him back to her other property (the one adjoining our land is rental property) to keep another horse company or something because he was gone for around two months. I was happy to see him. :)

Boys Just Want To Have Fun!

Since I was bad today and didn't do anything with Chrome (very windy and cold again) I decided to share with you some pictures from back in January that I haven't posted before. I keep my unedited pictures in separate folders until I get around to editing them and there were five hundred and eighty pictures of Chrome waiting to get edited so I decided I might tackle a portion of it lol. It will take a few days hehe. So the theme for today is Chrome playing with the neighbor's gelding Two Socks (who we haven't seen in a while and are very worried about, but she may have just moved him to a different pasture) over the fence. I hope you enjoy them. :)

They play very rough, but neither one has ever been injured.

The first time I saw Two Socks grab Chrome by the throat I freaked out! Since Chrome was uninjured and unconcerned I no longer worry about it lol.

Night all!

Wordless Wednesday

Chrome's Second Day

I am soooo behind on editing pictures. My camera takes huge pictures and I have to downsize them before I can post them. Sometimes I get lazy and get waaaay behind on photos. So anyway, here are Chrome's pictures from day two. He finally got to meet the neighbor's gelding Two Socks (original huh?). He also got to meet my two pygmy goats, Hairy Vetch and Sassafras, and my Siberian Husky Storm.

First up we have the goats. He was very curious, but also a little wary of them. Vetch was being a brat and tried to head butt Chrome, so in the last picture he's flipping them off (threatening to kick). They're getting along much better now. :)

Here are the pictures of him meeting Storm, my Siberian Husky. You can also see her blog for more pictures. Here are my favorites.

And here are the pictures of him and Two Socks. It was so cute watching his submissive champing (stretching head and neck, pulling back lips and clapping teeth together is a submissive gesture to older horses) to the gelding.

Chrome kept turning his butt to the gelding and champing. The gelding gave him some pretty hard bites to the rump, but they are great friends. They've even learned to play bitey face with each other. Its so cute!

And here are some more random pictures of my beautiful boy.

Being cute. :) I was happy to catch these two on camera. The yawning one looks like a braying donkey. :)

Doing his Arabian impression. I love these pictures!

We haven't worked on any specific training yet. Just spending a lot of time together, getting to know one another. He LOVES being scratched all over, specifically his ears and chest. As soon as I get him a companion I'm going to start working on desensitizing him to things like plastic, blankets, ropes, whips, etc. He's a little jumpy, but I think it's just because he's on his own for the first time. A lot like getting your first apartment and every door slam makes you jump. :D

Keep an eye out for the next post. My husband bought Chrome a present!